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This posting was meant to be about my race. The 20-kilometer (12.4-mile) road cycling event at the Maine Senior Games. But Hurricane Lee got in the way and the competition has been rescheduled for October 15. So my chance to defend my gold medal performance from last year will have to wait.
That being said, I've decided to delve into another kind of contest. With the recent conclusion of the season's third Grand Tour — the Vuelta a Espana and won by American Sepp Kuss of Colorado — I thought it would be interesting to share some trivia about the publicity race that takes place in the granddaddy of them all, namely the Tour de France. A sort of race within a race.
It takes a ton of money to run a professional cycling team. Viewing the estimated budgets of the UCI WorldTour teams for 2023, at the lower end of the scale is Alpecin-Deceuninck at $6.4 million to $8.5 million. Number one on the spending sheet is Ineos Grenadiers at $48 million to $53 million. You're probably wondering — like I did — where do these high-flying pedal pushers get their dough in order to participate in this expensive sport?
A large chunk of it comes by way of each team's title sponsors. Below is a listing of the twenty-two squads that took the starting line at this year's Tour de France. It shows the team name, their primary backers and the services they provide, and in which country the sponsors are headquartered.
TEAMS & TITLE SPONSORS
* AG2R Citroën
AG2R (France) insurance firm
Citroen (France) automobile manufacturer
* Alpecin-Deceuninck
Alpecin (Germany) shampoo brand
Deceuninck (Belgium) plastic and composite window and door systems
* Arkéa–Samsic
Arkéa (France) mutual cooperative bank
Samsic (France) facility management support services
* Astana Qazaqstan
Samruk-Kazyna (Kazakhstan) coalition of state-owned companies and team named after Astana, its capital city
* Bora–Hansgrohe
BORA (Germany) manufacturer of extractor hoods and cooktops
Hansgrohe (Germany) bathroom and kitchen fittings manufacturer
* Cofidis
Cofidis (France) money-lending company
* EF Education-EasyPost
EF Education (Switzerland) international education company
EasyPost (United States, Utah) shipping applications
* Groupama-FDJ
Groupama (France) insurance group
FDJ (France) operator of national lottery
* Ineos Grenadiers
Ineos (England) multi-national chemicals company
* Intermarché-Circus-Wanty
Intermarché (France) supermarket chain
Circus (Belgium) online sportsbook
Wanty (Belgium) engineering firm
* Lidl-Trek
Lidl (Germany) supermarket chain
Trek (United States, Wisconsin) bicycle manufacturer
* Movistar
Telefonica (Spain) mobile telephone company, team named after brand
* Soudal Quick-Step
Soudal (Belgium) producer of silicone and caulks, polyurethane foams and adhesives
Quick-Step (Belgium) flooring
* Bahrain Victorious
Government of Bahrain
* DSM-Firmenich
DSM-Firmenich (Netherlands) health, nutrition, and fragrances company
* Jayco-AlUla
Jayco (United States, Indiana) manufacturer of recreation vehicles
AlUla — area in Saudi Arabia
* Jumbo-Visma
Jumbo (Netherlands) supermarket chain
Visma (Norway) software company
* UAE Team Emirates
Government of United Arab Emirates and Emirates airline
* Israel-Premier Tech
Israel — team owners pro-Israeli, but not backed by government of Israel
Premier Tech (Canada) tech company
* Lotto-Dstny
Lotto (Belgium) lottery
Dstny (Belgium) business communications provider
* TotalEnergies
Total Direct Energie (France) international electric utility company
* Uno-X Pro
Uno-X (Denmark) fuel station chain
What's surprising is that most of these contributing businesses — in fact, all but one — have nothing to do with bicycles, directly speaking. But, keep in mind, the folks paying the bills are looking for maximum publicity and exposure — in the world's most celebrated cycling race. And they are more than willing to fork over big bucks. Stay safe!
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